Color diversity among Kuiper belt objects: The collisional resurfacing model revisited

A re-evaluation of the collisional resurfacing model based on up-to-date Kuiper belt objects size distribution and a more precise treatment of the cosmic-ray environment at the outer Solar System is presented. The result of the irradiation due to cosmic-rays with different energies altered in a different way the material of the objects, producing, under certain conditions, a thick irradiation mantle. Since the collisional resurfacing model is based in the competition between darkening by cosmic-rays and resurfacing due to impacts, the color of objects in different regions of the belt could vary if the projectile populations in those regions are truncated at a different radius, (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.